Arundhati Roy: Reclaiming Voices on the Margin in The God of Small Things
2011 (English)Independent thesis Basic level (degree of Bachelor), 10 credits / 15 HE credits
Student thesis
Abstract [en]
The aim of this essay is to critically consider Arundhati Roy’s novel The God of Small Things from a postcolonial feminist perspective, with a special focus on how she models different representations of women, taking as a background the discussions within postcolonial feminism about subalternity and the representations of women from the so-called Third World in theory and literature, as well as the concept of agency from Cultural Studies. This purpose is reached by studying and comparing three main female characters in the novel: Mammachi, Baby Kochamma and Ammu, centering on their different ways of relating to the male hero of the novel, Velutha, an Untouchable in the lingering caste system of India. The essay argues that Roy has contributed with diverse representations of subaltern women in the ‘Third World’ who—despite their oppressed and marginalized status—display agency and are portrayed as responsible for their own actions.
Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
2011. , p. 36
Keywords [en]
Arundhati Roy, The God of Small Things, subaltern, postcolonial feminism, Third World women, Spivak, Can the Subaltern Speak, marginalization, Bhubaneswari, Kerala
National Category
Specific Languages
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:hig:diva-8366Archive number: HEU:C11:3OAI: oai:DiVA.org:hig-8366DiVA, id: diva2:394114
Uppsok
Humanities, Theology
Supervisors
Examiners
2011-02-042011-02-012018-01-12Bibliographically approved